The suit was filed today in U.S. District Court for the Eastern
District of Virginia, Alexandria Division. It challenges the EPA’s
recently established rule governing Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL)
limits for Accotink Creek. The county believes the proposed TMDL
limits on stormwater flow provide no reasonable assurance that targets
can be attained or that they will correct the underlying problem. Left
unchallenged, EPA’s new stormwater rule will require Fairfax County to
sharply and substantially reduce all stormwater runoff across the
Accotink Creek watershed.

“Fairfax County has demonstrated a strong and unwavering commitment to
water quality and environmental stewardship during the last six decades,”
says Board of Supervisors Chairman Sharon Bulova. “We are absolutely
committed to maintaining and improving, water quality in Fairfax County
and the Chesapeake Bay. However, we believe that regulations,
whether federally or state imposed, must effectively address the targeted
problem and be fiscally sound and realistic.”

“We don’t want regulations that set us up for failure,” emphasizes Board
of Supervisors Vice Chairman and Environment Committee Chair Penelope
Gross. “The county believes that a more comprehensive approach will
provide the sustainable improvements needed to improve the habitat of our
streams and lead to restoration of the bay. We continue to work
together with the environmental community, homeowners and builders toward
that.”

This rule also will directly affect homeowners and commercial
property owners. To achieve the approximately 50 percent flow
reduction called for in the TMDL rules for a developed watershed such as
Accotink, homeowners as well as commercial property owners will be
required to capture and retain, reuse and/or infiltrate stormwater runoff
from their roof, driveway and other impervious areas on their
property. Any new impervious areas, such as home additions or new
development, could be required to retain all stormwater runoff from any
expanded impervious area.

“This is a new type of stormwater enforcement action,” says James
Patteson, director of Public Works and Environmental Services. “While we
are not sure why we and a handful of localities in the country were
selected, we feel an obligation to other municipalities, businesses and
entities to ensure that enacted regulations are fair, attainable and
environmentally sound.”

Fairfax County’s record includes more than $300 million in wastewater
system improvements and dedicated annual funding for stormwater system
improvements since 2006. In 2009 the county instituted a dedicated tax
for stormwater and has since increased it to a current rate of $.02/$100
assessed value or $100/year for the median home. The countywide tax funds
the $40 million budgeted stormwater program in Fiscal Year 2013. Fairfax
County has been recognized at the state and national levels for
outstanding water quality facilities, staff and programs.

Fairfax County has filed suit at this time because it must make any
objections to the TMDL limits known before the Virginia Department of
Conservation and Recreation (VA DCR) issues its stormwater permit to the
county, which is likely to occur soon. If the county had not filed the
lawsuit prior to VA DCR issuing the stormwater permit, case law indicates
that the county may have lost its ability to object to the unattainable
TMDL limits.